Review: "Tommy & Merry and the Twelve Days of Christmas" by Ellie Hall

Tommy & Merry and the Twelve Days of Christmas by Ellie Hall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As best friends in college, Merilee Ketchum and Tommy Costa promised to marry each other if they were both still single when they turned 30. Unfortunately, they grew apart after Merry walked in on Tommy making out with her roommate, and she dropped out of school shortly thereafter to care for her sick grandmother. More than a decade later, Tommy and Merry run into each other while attending a mutual friend's wedding and Tommy quickly realizes that his old college crush on Merry is still there. He reminds her of their pact, but Merry, still hurt over what happened with her college roommate, rebuffs him. They meet again by chance the next day when they each schedule a meeting with the owner of a vacant pizza shop in Merry's hometown of Hawk Ridge Hollow, Montana, where Tommy has recently relocated. Merry hopes to lease the space to open a pie shop, while Tommy is hoping to open a pizza shop with his family. The owner of the building decides that the two of them should go into business together and tells them that if they refuse, he'll lease the space to a national chain instead. They reluctantly agree to the plan, but things become even more complicated when Tommy's parents arrive and Merry impulsively volunteers to act as his fake fiancee. As they work together to get their newly combined business off the ground, can Tommy convince Merry to give their romantic relationship a chance, too?

Tommy and Merry were ridiculously cute together and I enjoyed their story tremendously. I particularly loved that he held onto his copy of the marriage pact for so many years! It was a great way to demonstrate that he'd never really stopped thinking about her in the time they were apart, and that he didn't take their unexpected second chance for granted. Their banter was a lot of fun, and I also appreciated the way that Merry came into her own by the end of the story. She was a lot better about standing up for herself (in her own sweet way, of course) and she'd also found a home for herself with Tommy's big, welcoming Italian family.

I would recommend this story for all fans of sweet contemporary romance and romantic comedy, and look forward to continuing the series.

*Review copy provided by the author. All opinions expressed are my own.

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